A little of whats going on at DSG. . .
- Thread starter Drift
- Start date
Wildman
Read the rules
Damn Nick, that does look like an awesome job. Props for being able to live the dream lol. Glad this got bumped, I'd missed it before.
I know this is a weird question, but because I've never been in your situation and won't ever be I'm curious to get some perspective into what seems like a sweet gig. What, if anything, would be the one thing about your job you would change if you could? I've always wondered what hours and scheduling flexibility would be like at garage like yours, where it seems like success is a factor of being able to rely heavily on quality employees.
I know this is a weird question, but because I've never been in your situation and won't ever be I'm curious to get some perspective into what seems like a sweet gig. What, if anything, would be the one thing about your job you would change if you could? I've always wondered what hours and scheduling flexibility would be like at garage like yours, where it seems like success is a factor of being able to rely heavily on quality employees.
First I'll say thanks. It is a sweet gig here, and I try not to take it for granted too much. I know that a lot of people would love to have my job, so I always try to do my best.
Now, on to your second question. . . DSG relies heavily on a good staff. There are 5 of us total here, the 2 owners (One of them is my older brother, Alex, the other is his best friend Bill). Both are extremely knowledgeable about motorsports in general and both are excellent fabricators. Then we have my good friend Matt, who does all the ecu calibrating and helps me trouble shoot a lot of cars. He is a great back board for me to bounce ideas off of when wiring. Then there is my other good friend Scot, (yes one T) and he is a suspension specialist and general work horse. He works for the TRG (The Racers Group) which is a Rolex GT and Koni Challenge Porsche team. He does all the corner balancing and alignments here. And you all seems to know me. I do most of the wiring and electrical diagnostics here, along with a lot of the general wrenching that needs to be done. We are a very close group that will often hang out after hours and go to the bar, play GT4, have parties, etc. So we rely heavily on each other to keep the shop open and fruitful.
Hours are pretty lenient. I work 9-6 mon-fri, usually 10-4ish on saturdays, (although I dont really have to, its kind of a come-in-if-you-want kind of thing. And sundays are really for working on our own cars, (as we dont really have the time or motivation to do so any other day of the week). If I need a day off or something, it usually not a big deal, I just need to give a bit of notice. And then it will we can schedule cars and projects around how many people are going to be available to work.
We share the a lot of the same struggles that any small business would. They bank account looks like a roller coaster and has to constantly be monitored to make sure we dont go into over draft. There is a TON of over head to pay which adds a lot of stress to the days. What separates us from other garages is the niche work that we do. We are a performance and race shop. So there are a lot of things that we have to do that a regular repair shop wouldnt ever have to deal with. We get a lot of half finished projects that customer cant finish themselves. And then we have to do, or re-do everything to make sure its safe and reliable. We do a lot of race cars that cant really be test driven, so we have to think of other ways to test things to assure that we are giving our customers what they are asking for. Honestly I could write a book about this stuff, but Im trying to keep this short.
If there are any more specific questions that people are wondering about, or if I wasnt clear above, please feel free to ask.
RedRyder
Save the manuals
Amazing. I love LeMans, such a great race. I could talk to that Porsche guy for days. Cool photos!
Wildman
Read the rules
Thanks for sharing. Sucks about the books but I guess that's inevitable, especially with a seasonal business like a shop
Russianred
Snail Spools You!
That was a close call, that's awful. Glad no one got hurt. Thanks for sharing that post above Nick. Sounds like there are some everyday struggles, but that's life. Overall seems to be a great career!
We gotta get together in Boston sometime soon man, once it warms up a bit.
- Nikita
We gotta get together in Boston sometime soon man, once it warms up a bit.
- Nikita
